Senior Services looks to finance new building

February 13, 2014

MARTINSBURG - Following the deconstruction of the Berkeley Senior Services office building commonly known as the Pink House, staff and board members are looking into different finance options to fund the construction of a new office facility.

In her budget presentation to the Berkeley County Council, executive director Linda Holtzapple asked the council to consider contributing $20,000 toward the project, with a total budget request of $75,000.

"The new offices will be fairly in the same location next to the senior center, in that same vicinity. It's not going to be right on that site, but in the same area," Holtzapple said, adding that the cost to remove the Pink House was about $11,000.

Holtzapple estimates the new office building will cost about $300,000 to build. Berkeley Senior Services already has $150,000 for the project and is researching different options to fund the remaining amount.

Berkeley Senior Services will be seeking funds from the Berkeley County Council, City of Martinsburg and the state legislature; however, Holtzapple is also considering obtaining a loan to fund the remaining balance of the project, although it is an option she is reluctant to use.

"We have the option to mortgage part of it and pay that down instead of it being a total cash outlay and that way we could pay from Senate funds over a number of years. We prefer not to go into debt, just like we would personally, but sometimes you have to do that in order to leverage your funds. We'll do what we need to do," Holtzapple said.

Since the project is dependent on finding funds, there is no estimated timetable for construction.

While sympathetic toward Holtzapple's request, council members reminded her that within the next several years, the council will be financing a significant renovation for the main senior center, replacing the exterior band of the facility that has begun to rot.

"It's been on our capital outlay to give that some attention. We're still not certain how much attention we're going to give it, meaning are we going to spend $100,000 or $300,000 to fix that. That's not going to be a small project either way we go. It's going to be a pretty costly replacement of the facade of the exterior of the building to try and save the integrity of the structure itself," Copenhaver said.

The county provided $55,000 to Berkeley Senior Services for this fiscal year, and council members questioned what effects the organization would experience if the council could only fund the $55,000 program costs and not the additional $20,000 for construction.

"If the council was not able to fund the request at the requested level, it wouldn't be devastating. We'd stay open; we'll just have to be creative and make adjustments where it's necessary. Obviously, providing the quality programming for the seniors of Berkeley County is what we want to do, and that's where our passion is, and it does take money to do that," said Eddie Edmonds, BSS board president.